


somewhere down the road

by dyoxyys



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Character Death, Coming of Age, Domesticity, Gen, Grandpa Bato, Grandpa Hakoda, Hakoda (Avatar) is a Good Parent, Its not that angsty though I promise, M/M, Monarchy, Other, Slice of Life, Traditions, ice dodging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25432585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyoxyys/pseuds/dyoxyys
Summary: The Chief of the Southern Water Tribe was currently holding an infant with bright golden eyes and the warm skin that all firebenders had. This all made perfect sense.The only issue is this infant also hadscales.
Relationships: Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Hakoda & Druk (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 37
Kudos: 502
Collections: Koi’s atla fic recs





	somewhere down the road

**Author's Note:**

> I really said I was gonna wait to write this fic until the Bakoda Fleet Week prompts were posted. I am a liar and a fraud.  
> Title is from Kenny Chesney's "Grandpa Told Me So"

“What’s wrong, Dad?”

“Sokka, when you wrote of a newborn son, this… Forgive me, but this isn’t what I was expecting.”

The Chief of the Southern Water Tribe was currently holding an infant with bright golden eyes and the warm skin that all firebenders had. This all made perfect sense. 

The only issue is this infant also had _scales._

When his son had written to him to tell him of his new child, he had only said that the baby was loud, full of energy, and named Druk. How was Hakoda supposed to know that his first grandson was a dragon? Weren’t they extinct? Are firebenders born as dragons? Surely not, but it could be a royal family thing, right?

Luckily, he wasn’t alone in his confusion. At his side, his husband was regarding their apparent new grandbaby with as much trepidation as he was. 

“Sokka, Fire Lord Zuko, this is a dragon,” Bato stated. Zuko nodded agreeably.

“Sure is, sir. Is… Is that a problem?” Zuko, who had long given up on reminding Bato to drop his formal title, seemed very worried that his fathers-in-law wouldn’t approve of his child, and that. Well, Hakoda couldn’t allow that.

He shook his head quickly, adjusting his grip on his squirmy grandson. “No, Zuko, it’s not a problem at all, I think we’re just a bit surprised?”

“Sokka said he told you!”  
  
Sokka at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish. “I may not have mentioned the whole, y’know, only offspring of a highly endangered species that has been thought extinct for decades thing?” 

“You didn’t tell your father that Druk is a dragon.” 

Spirits, their bickering is familiar. Hakoda felt choked up, seeing the way his son and his son-in-law interacted. They were the spitting image of Hakoda and Kya when they first married. Bato bumped his hip, clearly thinking the same thing. 

Bato was always worse at taking things like this in stride, though, so he was still biting his tongue to keep from revealing how unnerved he was by Druk. Zuko and Sokka may not have noticed, but Hakoda did and decided to spare Bato from speaking. 

“So, this is the new Fire Prince? Little Druk, prince of a nation? I love him.” He looked down at the dragon, who was actively trying to climb onto his head, and smiled. Maybe a fire- breathing flying lizard isn’t the worst option for a grandson. 

\--

If asked, Hakoda would not be able to pinpoint how he and his husband had gotten saddled with babysitting duty. Every time Sokka or Zuko came to visit and graciously brought him his beloved grandson, he ended up with a (rapidly growing) dragon velcroed to his side.

This was less of an issue when Druk’s fire was small. 

Keeping the twenty-pound two-year-old from melting his entire village was an insurmountable task, and he was endlessly grateful that Bato had warmed up to Druk so quickly and thus was willing to help.

Really, where would he be without Bato? 

Bato, who still flinched every time Zuko created fire but had never once been afraid of Zuko’s son. Bato, who tried to pick Druk up, even after he had grown larger than the igloos. Bato, who was currently lecturing a dragon on Southern Water Tribe fire safety laws. 

Spirits, Hakoda was so in love. 

“‘Koda, please tell your grandson why it is unacceptable to burst into flames in the middle of town.” 

Druk was the spitting image of Sokka when he was scolded, it was almost surreal. He looked exactly as chagrined and upset, but Hakoda knew that he only looked so downtrodden because he had been caught, not because he was doing something stupid. 

“You get your troublemaking side from me, you know,” he said instead of actually scolding him. “A lot of things down here can be melted and burned, remember? It’s not like in the Fire Nation, buddy.” Druk huffed and licked his cheek and Hakoda tried his best not to laugh. It’s hard being the cool, fun grandpa when your grandson can ignite his entire body on a whim. It doesn’t help that his other grandfather is _Iroh_ , who Hakoda knew he would never compare to, but he’s doing his best. 

It wasn’t hard to guess why Druk wasn’t very popular in the South, but it still hurt Hakoda’s heart to hear his people discussing his grandson with such disdain.

“The South is no place for a dragon,” they would say, “He should’ve stayed in the Fire Nation, just like his father.” When he had first heard them saying those horrible things, Bato had had to restrain him from punching a citizen. How _dare_ they talk about his grandson like that? Or his son-in-law, for that matter? 

Slowly, though, he had gotten used to the comments, just as he had gotten used to the comments about Zuko after the wedding. At least his people had the decency to not make such rude remarks when Sokka and Zuko were in earshot. It’s not like he didn’t try to stop them from insulting his family, but he knew it meant nothing coming from him. Bato, on the other hand. Well.

He had seen Bato give Sanak a black eye for daring to insinuate that the Fire Lord was only marrying Sokka to further oppress the Tribes, somehow. He had witnessed men get kicked off hunting trips, a capital insult to their reputation, for calling Zuko “Ozai’s lapdog,” or Sokka “the Fire Lord’s little pet.” He had heard whispered stories of his husband threatening to break the bones of a group of men who thought it would be rational to discuss hunting Druk. 

Yeah, Bato could handle the rumors. People feared and respected Bato much more than they ever had Hakoda. 

The people who refused to make eye contact with him and bowed their heads to him when he entered rooms had it all wrong, though. Bato wasn’t mean. He wasn’t scary, even. He was just a huge softy who loves his family more than anything. The Bato pressed against Druk’s massive belly for warmth was the Bato Hakoda knew and loved, but it’s perfectly fine that the tribe assumed he had come back from the war with a hardened heart. It helped them to keep cruel words towards Hakoda’s family out of their mouths. 

Anyway. Bato was explaining to Druk that if he kept burning things down here, the people wouldn’t accept him coming back once he grows larger (and he _will_ grow larger, Zuko had warned). Druk wasn’t listening, he was far too busy watching a southern rabbitmouse race by, but Hakoda was. The idea of Druk’s massive wings never again casting a shadow over his boat, of Druk’s raucous roar never again echoing across the South, of Druk’s claws never again sinking in the deep snow- it was more than he could bear.

Yeah, maybe he _is_ going soft. 

Once they were done lecturing, Bato and Hakoda stood. They used to be taller than Druk, back when he was a mere hatchling, but now he towered over them, even when sitting. It should’ve been scarier than it was. Druk allowed them to climb on and refasten the carefully tailored (fireproof) anorak they had created for him before taking flight. 

Riding on the back of a creature who’s skin can ignite at will, who’s jaw can break a polar moosebear’s back, who’s smallest talon is the size of a child, most would’ve been frightened, but not Hakoda. Up in the sky on his grandson’s back with his husband gripping his waist, Hakoda had never felt safer in his life. 

\--

On Druk’s fourteenth birthday, Sokka flew with him down to the South to ice dodge. Zuko was with him, holding their (human) toddler, and he seemed just as confused as Hakoda as to how their ten-story tall son was going to ice dodge. 

“We’ll figure it out,” Sokka kept insisting, as if his son can fit on a boat. Or swim. 

Druk, to his credit, looked nothing but excited. All he knew was that his dad was taking him to do something important. Hakoda sighed. 

As soon as Druk’s feet touched the ground, Zuko was hopping down and handing Hakoda his screaming granddaughter. Izumi, despite all the conditioning she had, still hated flying. Hakoda was more than willing to give his son-in-law a break for a bit. Druk, always the jealous one, fixed Hakoda with a glare and started smoking, which prompted Sokka to quickly slide off his son’s back before he could flame up. 

“Papaw Koda, bubby is goin’ mice dodging!” Izumi chirped in his ear, already calmed down now that she was in the arms of her grandfather. 

Hakoda chuckled and shared a look with Zuko. Sokka had been talking about taking Druk ice dodging every day since Druk turned ten, but he never explained to either of them _how_. “He sure is, sweetpea,” he replied. 

Bato finally made his way to the docks, only to be rammed into by a massive dragon head. “Hey, kiddo, I missed you, too,” he greeted, laughing. Druk made a happy huffing noise and licked Bato’s face. It would never stop bringing Hakoda joy to watch his husband and eldest grandson interact. 

After greetings were done and everyone in town had gathered at the lip of the ice to spectate, Sokka finally got to take Druk ice dodging right when the sun was at its peak, just as he had hoped for. The method, apparently, was to have Druk fly low, close to the water, around the glaciers, while Sokka rode on his back. It was… untraditional, to say the least, but Hakoda had faith in both boys. 

Zuko, on the other hand, really didn’t seem to. He was stood at Hakoda’s side, chewing the inside of his cheek to the point where Hakoda would bet he could taste blood.

“They’ll do fine,” he reassured, smiling.

“How can you be sure? Druk doesn’t do good flying low, and Sokka hasn’t navigated down here in so long, and he _certainly_ hasn’t navigated on the waters-”

“Zuko. They’ll be fine.”

Izumi was asleep in Bato’s arms, much less interested in the events than they had thought she’d be. If he was being honest, Hakoda was _very_ surprised when he met Izumi. Sokka had written of another newborn, a girl, with the softest hair and tiniest hands, and he had half a mind to assume his son had gone and adopted a koalaotter, rather than a human baby. But no, when his ship touched down in Caldera, he was greeted by a baby with a laugh like a wind chime and hair just like Zuko’s. She was the spitting image of him, actually. 

He had been surprised, but certainly not disappointed. He loved Druk to death, but hearing Izumi call him Papaw Koda, just like Bumi and Kya had taken to- it made his heart soar. 

Druk was exactly the way Sokka had been when Katara was born. He was fiercely protective of the tiny baby, but also constantly jealous and vying for the attention of the adults around him. It was hard to ignore him, seeing as he was, well, a fully grown dragon, but even if he wasn’t, Sokka and Zuko made sure he never felt neglected or unimportant. 

It was known throughout the world that although Princess Izumi was the first human child and the apparent heir to the throne, Prince Druk was the firstborn and was to be treated as such. Hakoda had pushed aside his urge to devote his entire time and being to the little girl pulling his hair and instead sat in the gardens with his grandson, telling him stories from the South that Sokka could never remember. 

Now, he was watching that precious dragon who used to fit in his arms prepare himself to fly full speed through the glaciers. Yeah, he understood Zuko’s nerves. 

In a flash, they were off. Sokka was gripping onto Druk’s harness for dear life and Druk was weaving through the glaciers as if he had been practicing. He probably had been, though without his dad on his back. Practice is technically against the rules, but so is not using a boat and being a dragon, probably, so Hakoda didn’t really care.

At one point, Druk’s wing just barely clipped an iceberg and caused half of it to melt almost instantly. Zuko grabbed Hakoda’s arm, gasping. Hakoda understood the feeling.

Well, he kind of understood. He had never been able to do this with Sokka, and he regretted it every day. Bato had taken him, and that’s the next best thing, but he didn’t get to watch his son navigate through the water with nothing but his boat and his friends, and that saddened him. He was glad he could watch his grandson complete this rite of passage, especially since Katara had already decided she is _not_ letting Bumi ice dodge. 

As quick as it had started, Druk was landing on the shore again. Sokka slid off, looking dazed, but Druk just looked proud. Zuko dutifully helped his husband stand, knowing from experience how dizzying Druk’s full speed maneuvering can be. Druk pushed his nose against Hakoda’s chest, grinning. Well, grinning is a bold phrase. Druk’s “grin” was a very unsettling show of all his teeth in a rough imitation of a grin. 

“Good job, kiddo,” Hakoda praised, laughing fully and patting his grandson’s snout.

In the end, Druk got the mark of the swift painted onto his forehead and a feast in his honor in the largest courtyard available. 

\--

The last time Hakoda saw his grandson, he was dying. Bato had died a year prior, and Hakoda’s heart was finally failing him. Katara, spirits bless her, was doing everything she could to keep him alive, but there was no point. He knew it was his time.

He had been taken to Republic City to heal because the hospitals up there were much nicer than the ones in Cranefish. His children and his grandchildren had hardly left his side since he arrived. Well, his grandchildren except for Druk. Druk couldn’t come in and the doctors would hardly let Hakoda stand, much less go outside, but he needed to see his eldest grandson one more time.

The morning before he died, he woke up feeling different. He was just as weak and weary, but a certain acceptance had settled itself in his very soul. He had Sokka and Zuko convince the doctors to let them take him to Druk. 

When Iroh died, and again when Bato died, something in Druk had snapped. Druk, Zuko had told him, would outlive Zuko’s own great-grandchildren, but losing his grandfathers was the first loss of many. He had been told that his life is longer than any human’s, that he would outlast his fathers, his sister, his sister’s children, and likely his sister’s grandchildren, but it was clear that he had not accepted what that meant until Iroh had passed.

The Fire Palace had burned to the ground, something no one had known was possible. 

When Bato had died, in this very same Republic City hospital, the oily sea to the south of the city had ignited. 

Hakoda feared what would go up in flames after he passed on. 

As soon as he stepped outside, wobbly on his feet though supported by his son and son-in-law, Druk’s snout was pressed to his chest. He was warmer than usual, it almost burned to touch his scaly cheek, but Hakoda placed his hand there anyway. Words didn’t need to be spoken, they never did with Druk. 

He spent a full hour like that, leaning against Druk’s head and silently telling him goodbye, be a good dragon, keep your fathers safe for me, do not grieve for me too deeply, I will always be watching over you.

Once he felt that his grandson was done saying goodbye, he allowed himself to be led back inside and laid back down on his hospital bed. His son grasped one of his hands and his daughter grasped the other. Spirits, he was so proud of them.

Within ten minutes, his pulse had gone still and the sky was on fire. 

**Author's Note:**

> Aw man I made it sad oops. Anyway. I hope you liked the fic, please comment and tell me what you thought, good or bad! My tumblr is [dyoxyys](%E2%80%9Ddyoxyys.tumblr.com%E2%80%9D) if you wanna shoot me a follow over there!


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